WAN Concepts and Architecture

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering Wide Area Network (WAN) fundamentals, topologies, connection types, and network evolution concepts.

Local Area Network (LAN)

A network that provides networking services within a small geographical area, such as a home or office, to interconnect local computers, peripherals, and other devices.

Wide Area Network (WAN)

A telecommunications network that operates beyond the geographic scope of a LAN, spanning over large geographical areas, countries, and continents to interconnect remote users, networks, and sites.

Private WAN

A WAN connection dedicated to a single customer that provides a guaranteed service level, consistent bandwidth, and security.

Public WAN

A WAN connection typically provided by an ISP or telecommunications service provider using the Internet, where service levels and bandwidth may vary and shared connections do not guarantee security.

Physical Topology

A network description that outlines the physical network infrastructure used by data when traveling from a source to a destination.

Logical Topology

A network description that outlines the virtual connection between a source and a destination.

Point-to-Point Topology

A WAN topology employing a circuit between two endpoints that involves a layer two transport service through the service provider network and appears as a direct physical link.

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

An agreement signed between an organization and a service provider that outlines the expected services relating to the reliability and availability of the connection.

Carrier

An entity that owns and maintains the physical connection and equipment between the provider and the customer.

Single Carrier WAN Connection

A design where an organization connects to only one service provider, resulting in the carrier connection and service provider acting as single points of failure.

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)

A common broadband service supplied by a local telephone service provider to connect to the Internet.

Span Engineering

A fictitious environmental consulting firm that developed a process for converting household waste into electricity and initially operated with 15 employees using a single LAN.